It’s been a long and crazy year. The coming of a new year reminds us to reflect on the past – the good and the bad. And that’s what I’ll be doing today! Although I didn’t crochet this year as much as I’d planned to, I made some things I’m pretty proud of and had a few new accomplishments. Reflection time!

(Also, if you want to check out last year’s end-of-year post, you can see it HERE.)

– Favorites of 2018 – 

Hilda and Sailor Moon

My amigurumi game got strong at the end of the year as I worked out an algorithm that really works for me. These are my favorite things to make right now!

Bowser

This Bowser may be one of the best looking things I’ve made. I’m disappointed I didn’t get better pictures for it, but I was really eager to get it to the person that ordered it! Maybe I’ll make another someday, and get some better pictures.

–  New Achievements –

I wrote my first pattern! 

I’m pretty happy with this one because I’ve always made my own patterns, but never actually written them down so other people can replicate my work. Now I’ve started selling my own! You can check them out in my Etsy Shop.

I joined Reddit!

This one may seem like a small achievement, but I’ve done really well on Reddit! At least, a lot better than I was expecting. I’m up to 8k karma, and I’ve made a few orders off of posting my stuff there! It feels really nice to have my things so easily shareable and get opinions so quickly. (And from people who don’t love me so aren’t obligated to be nice.)

I made my first blankets!

Sort of! Technically, a blanket was the very first thing I ever crocheted. But this year I made my first serious blankets, as well as a queen size! Which is pictured above.

I was on the news!

I don’t have a picture for this one, so I figured I’d just find one that displayed how I felt. It was intimidating! But I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to advertise my local crochet classes.

I started teaching classes!

I’m now officially a crochet teacher! It is very rewarding to see others grow in their knowledge and love of the craft. I’m proud to say that my students are doing quite well!

I learned to crochet left-handed!

I had some students come in to learn that were left-handed. I was taught right-handed, but I’m naturally left-handed, so it was pretty easy for me to make the switch to teach! After a little while, I realized I felt just as comfortable with my left hand as my right, so I decided to make the blanket above, which is a combination of both! Instead of turning my work, I just switch my hands and went the other way. Pretty proud of that!

Did I accomplish my 2017 goals?

• Begin crafting and selling more work as a shop vendor.

Yes! If we’re counting the digital shop. I put my first items on Etsy, and they’re selling much faster than I’d expected as a noobie with zero reviews to start.

• Reach out to my community pages, and become more known in crafting circles.

I have reached out in my local community, even being on the local news! Strangers are now starting to come to me with “I hear you crochet..” orders. It’s great!

• Make a major charity project, such as prosthetics for mastectomy patients or octopi for premature babies.

This one I didn’t get around to, sadly. I reached out to a local cancer support group offering the prosthetics, but I had no takers. (Even though I offered them for free.) Oh well, maybe next year!

• (And the biggest challenge) Participate in Fanaticon, an annual convention held locally. I’ll probably make Pokemon paraphernalia.

I actually started this one! And now I’m surrounded by pokemon paraphernalia, haha. I have enough to annoy me but too little to sell. Fanaticon didn’t actually happen this year, though! Maybe next year? But this has been a longstanding goal of mine, so I’m not sure I can just keep putting it off “till next year” until I’m very serious about it.

So, what’s next? 

I have a pretty hefty list of goals for 2019! This year is going to be all about business, since my goal now is to start making a more serious living off of my crochet.

• I want to write at least ten patterns to add to my shop.
• Make more items that haven’t already been ordered so that I can list them in my shop and display my craft online.
• I want to begin making at least one new thing every week.
• I want to form a solid customer base. To put that into more meaningful words, I want to make more customers that come back for at least two more orders after their first.

It’s been a great year, everybody! I want to say thank you to everyone who has ordered from me, supports the business, or just regularly checks the blog. You guys are great!

Happy New Year, Everyone!